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- Kenyan Farmers Receive $2M Boost from Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism
- Brace for High Interest Rates for a Longer Period World Bank Warns Kenya
- Kenya-Ethiopia Trade Relations: Legislators Advocate for Policy Alignment to Boost Ties
- Visualising the state of debt in Africa 2024
- Abu Dhabi radiates optimism as over 300 startups join AIM Congress 2024
- TLcom Capital Raises $154 million in Funding to Boost Its African Growth
- Africa’s $824Bn debt, resource-backed opaque loans slowing growth — AfDB
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Africa
- AfDB asks policymakers to put in place an orderly and predictable way of dealing with Africa’s $824Bn debt pile.
- According to AfDB, Africa’s ballooning external debt reached $824 billion in 2021.
- AfDB president says there is urgent need for increased concessional financing, particularly for low-income countries.
Africa’s immense economic potential is being undermined by non-transparent resource-backed loans that complicate debt resolution and compromise countries’ future growth, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.
Adesina at the Semafor Africa Summit taking place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, highlighted the challenges posed by Africa’s ballooning external debt, which reached $824 billion in 2021, with countries dedicating 65 per cent of their GDP to servicing these obligations.
He said the continent would pay $74 billion in debt service payments this year alone, a sharp increase from $17 billion in 2010. “I …
- Meg Whitman, US Ambassador to Kenya, highlights key investment opportunities in Kenya, particularly in the creative industry and clean energy.
- She noted that Kenya has the potential to become the Singapore of Africa through vertical business integration, job creation, innovation, and foreign direct investment.
- AmCham Business Summit 2024 seeks to strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the US, Kenya, and East Africa.
The fourth edition of the regional American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham) Business Summit, has officially kicked off in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme, ‘Catalyzing The Future of US-East Africa Trade and Investment’.
This year’s forum underscores AmCham Business Summit as the premier platform for strengthening bilateral trade and investment between the United States, Kenya, and East Africa.
Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the two-day Summit has brought together delegates from the United States of America, East and Sub-Saharan Africa in efforts to deliberate and …
- UN faults UK-Rwanda asylum treaty citing concerns on potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
- Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country.
- With deportation flights slated to start in July, the move is sparking weighty debates over the ethical implications of outsourcing asylum responsibilities.
This week’s passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament has triggered alarm bells within the United Nations (UN), with two prominent leaders, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raising concerns over its potentially harmful impact on global responsibility-sharing, human rights, and refugee protection.
Spearheaded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the legislation mandates judges to deem Rwanda as a safe third country, paving the way for the deportation of thousands of migrants who have sought refuge …
Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to selected health facilities has kicked off in Ghana.
The exercise which began on Tuesday, March 2, is being conducted by Zipline, using drones.
Ghana is now the first country in the world to deploy drones on a national scale to deliver COVID-19 vaccines, which were shipped into the country on February 23, by the Covax facility.
Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, from the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The arrival in Accra is the first batch delivered anywhere in the world by the COVAX Facility as part of an unprecedented effort to deliver at least 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021.
How COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed
With about 12 million people in Ghana living outside cities, the country’s government will use Zipline’s network to deliver its COVID-19 vaccines to ensure rapid, …
Three significant news items went on the global wire on 25th February 2021 as follows;
- Liquid Telecom, a member of the Econet Group that has laid more than 70,000km of fiber optic cable across Africa[1], raised $840M financing package (US$620M bond and a US$220M equivalent term loan in Rand). This was Liquid Telecom’s second bond issue and it was 5.5 times oversubscribed with JP Morgan Chase & Co, Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd as joint global bookrunners[2].
- Convergence Partners, a leading Pan African Private Equity fund[3] entered into an agreement with Nasdaq listed Inseego (INSG) to acquire 100% of their subsidiary Ctrack’s operations in Africa and the Middle East[4].
- Ecobank Nigeria, the largest country operations of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), issued a London listed $300M bond that was 3 times oversubscribed[5] and drew significant international
A mineral-rich continent, with a fast-growing economic potential and a considerable population stands a chance to become a predominant global hub for trade and investment. Africa’s growth potential has been mainly driven by a significant surge in investment, as indicated by the African Development Bank. As opposed to consumption expenditure driving economic growth, industry players and governments have realised the long-term benefits of investment to the growth of African economies. A longevity approach to a sustained growth of the African continent as a whole is the thrust of Agenda 2063 of the African Union, propelled by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. …
For the first time in the 25-year history of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) an African woman is set to take over as Director-General. Three women were shortlisted amongst the final five and ultimately two highly qualified women made it to the final round of consideration for the top position; no woman had ever made it to this stage in the history of the institution. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the obvious front-runner after her South Korean rival withdrew and the US reversed its previous opposition to her taking the leadership role of the body. There may still be some impediments but the future for African women is bright! …
Africa’s financial potential has become an interesting prospect for emerging market investors. Three decades ago a proposal to invest in Africa would have been considered ridiculous, but this is no longer the case. In fact, between 2006 and 2011, the continent was registering the highest returns on FDI at 11.4 percent, even higher than Asia at 9.1 percent, while the global average was 7.1 percent. To add to that according to the World Economic Forum, since 2000 “half of the world’s fastest-growing economies have been in Africa. As western markets mature and foreign investments saturate in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and India, Africa is fast becoming the most lucrative investment destination. The inefficient African markets are an excellent source of excess returns, given the level of perceived risks. …
The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) on Thursday, February 25 launched an Ecommerce Booster Program targeting at least 2000 Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
The program will be realized through funding from the European Union and UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office.
TradeMark East Africa, a leading aid for trade regional body in East Africa will support the program, while the technical support for this program is being provided by Amari Consulting Ltd.
Types of businesses targeted
Businesses with little or no digital presence are being targeted for training and on-boarding to e-commerce platforms to ensure MSMEs can increase and diversify their revenue streams during this period of COVID-19 pandemic.
As COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause disruptions in the global and regional value chains, it has become clear that e-commerce is an important tool and solution for businesses and
consumers.
E-commerce can support small businesses in reducing their costs and …
